For a split-second, Sophia was wordless. “I’m sorry, I…” She was about to reason out her amnesia when a guy, from nowhere, spoke for her.
“She has amnesia, Chuck,” he said and picked up the papers, then handed them to Chuck.
Sophia turned to look at the familiar voice that came from nowhere, and discovered Enzo’s presence. Unlike a while ago, he was now calm.
“What?!” Chuck found it puzzling. “How?!” Then he steadied his brown eyes on Sophia.
Though she wanted to, Sophia was doubtful about sharing her story. It would only remind her of Giovanni, of the accident, and it would be too unbearable to handle, especially now that she had to come home alone and strange people were continually breaking in.
“Um, it’s a long story…” Sophia then provided him with a safe answer, and then Enzo changed the subject matter.
“So what brings you back here?” Enzo asked Chuck, giving Sophia the impression that they were buddies.
“I’m here to fix some papers,” he replied and checked the time. “And now, I think I have to hurry. I’ll see you around, folks. And I’m so sorry, Sophia,” he said, showing increasing empathy towards Sophia, and ran fast to the administration’s office.
A pull of silence emerged from Sophia. She didn’t know how to face Enzo, didn’t know if she was going to thank him for rescuing her just a moment ago… or to say sorry for the fight that involved him and her, this lunch-time.
“I really want to apologize for what happened a while ago,” she said, her head entirely bowed down.
“Why are you apologizing? None of it was your fault, Sophia,” he replied. It was confusing because he was smiling.
Sophia wasn’t able to return a quick reaction. Her mind was still in the process, and each time she pondered, she drew a blank. Enzo was now the mysterious one.
“So, are you just gonna drive home or… take a cab?” Enzo stirred her, attempting to play cool.
“Um, no. I’ll take a cab.” She replied, right after she gathered back her wits and courage.
Her steady, frightened look at him made Enzo extend his brief silence. He wondered how big the stalker image had impacted upon her, and it made him want to shout out and crush everything he saw. It must have been so hard to be that stigmatized.
“I can give you a free ride home,” he offered, holding himself together, and struggled to display confidence.
Too bad this put Sophia into additional fright. It was not because of the stalking issues, but because she worried too much that this might lead him to another fight. She didn’t want another chaos because of her. She had enough being everybody’s mess.
“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna abduct you or something,” he was pretending to be cool, “or leave you in an abandoned place or anything else you see in movies,” Enzo advanced as the fear flashed brighter in her eyes. Then he realized, he was too hasty, asking for her trust.
Her gaze went distant for a moment, and as an act of courtesy, she agreed. He seemed to be real anyway, plus she‘d caused him a fight this lunch. This could be an opportunity for a payback.
“As long as you know my home address.” Sophia tried to smile, and it ignited Enzo, on a whim.
“Of course, I know where that is,” Enzo admitted but, all of a sudden, realized it was slip of tongue. Too late did he realize it could add up to all of Sophia’s doubts about him.
From that exact moment, Sophia confirmed he did use to trail her before. But it wasn’t enough to convict him. Instead, she was beginning to trust him, somehow.
As they made their way to the parking lot, weaving between cars, awkward silence began to engulf Sophia. She was having second thoughts. She didn’t know where this would go. But there was no backing out now. This guy Enzo was way too energized in opening his Ford truck and withdrawal was no longer an option.
Sophia’s tension further elevated when Enzo finally roared the engine and drove it like an aircraft.
“Do you want to drop by a coffee shop?” Enzo dared to ask her, after ten minutes of silent driving.
“I’d love to, but mom would freak out if I’m not home by six.” Sophia wasn’t facing him, and she was obviously fretful. “Maybe next time. Thank you, by the way.”
Her disquiet pushed Enzo not to ask a subsequent question. He hated how this whole stigma had caused him too much burden, even up to now. Then silence charged in again until they arrived at Sophia’s.
Elizabeth, Lilly, and Emily were in the garden, kneeling and digging in the earth, when they saw a strange truck coming. Their speculations turned to worse when they saw Sophia gliding out of it, and this rushed Elizabeth to leave the two to water the daisies that bloomed along the hedge, so she could approach her daughter.
As for Enzo, considering his bad reputation to the family, he hurried to leave but Elizabeth saw him and stopped him. To his surprise, she offered him a snack inside the house.
“Sweetie, aren’t you going to introduce your new friend to me?” Elizabeth asked her daughter, just as Enzo was getting out of his truck. She seemed to like him, especially upon seeing he was wearing the same school logo in his uniform.
Sophia was about to do so when Enzo did it for her.
“Hello, Mrs. Vabueretti. I’m Enzo, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said.
“Oh, Enzo! A very charming name.” Elizabeth was stunned all the more when Enzo offered his hand for a hand-shake. This boy seemed groomed to Elizabeth. “You look familiar,” she said and granted him a hand-shake.
A bright and breezy smile ascended from Enzo. “You’ve probably stopped by our restaurant at the Eight Avenue and saw me there, ma’am.”
“Oh, I bet you come from a family of entrepreneurs.” Elizabeth was smiling, as if it was a good news, and led him inside the house, with Sophia by her side.
Enzo was amazed at the house’s elegance. The interior design and all the classic furnishings—they all threw him into a total spin. On the floor was a mauve carpet. The walls were pine-paneled. The living room smelt heavenly, with fresh flowers in brass vases that seemed to have come from the ancient Chinese dynasties.
“Um, coffee? Fruit juice?” Sophia began to ask him, acting too accommodating.
Sliding an appealing look, he said, “Surprise me.” Sophia tensed then relaxed a bit. He seemed too good to be true.
Words died as Sophia’s throat closed over. All she could do was to nod and hope she would choose the best refreshment.
In Sophia’s absence, Enzo looked through the family photos. He noticed childhood photos of every Vabueretti kid except for Sophia, and he began to wonder.
“I can’t see any childhood photo of you,” he asked Sophia when she came back to him. She was carrying a glass of cold lemonade with peppermint.
Quickly, Sophia’s throat stung. She was still searching for words to answer him. She didn’t want to tell him she grew up, away, in Forest Green so she only said, “Maybe, I was ugly as a kid that’s why mom didn’t display one.” She felt like shrinking when she realized it was a stupid feedback to make, but the expression in his eyes was positive.
Enzo was thrown into amazement. He couldn’t believe how she just tried to put herself down. But the whiff of the fresh lemonade tempted him to have a sip. Thanks to the cool lemonade, though!
“Nice house you’ve got, by the way.” Enzo revived the scenario and emptied his glass, then Elizabeth came to join them.
“I was wondering if you could join us for dinner,” Elizabeth asked Enzo.
Too fast in declining yet trying to summon some courtesy, Enzo then said his gentle farewells and said he had to be home before dinner.
Impressed again and again, Elizabeth accepted the excuse. “Next time you visit, make sure you have some extra time to dine with us, all right?”
It was, undeniably, good news for Enzo but it was a bit of forewarning for Sophia. It seemed her mother could eye him as Giovanni the Second in her life. Elizabeth had always
had a good taste for guys from the upper class.
“Yes, Mrs. Vabueretti, I’ll have that in mind. Thank you again.” Enzo dismissed the conversation with enough politeness, and Sophia accompanied him back to his truck.
“Thank you for today.” He shot a shimmering smile at Sophia.
“You’re welcome.” Sophia was smiling, too, and she was now gazing through his dark eyes, noticing some resemblance between him and Giovanni. She was starting to feel at ease with him, too.
“By the way, your lemonade is so refreshing,” Enzo complimented as he opened his truck. “I hope I can stay home tonight because I might come back here for another drink.” He winked, trying to reveal his comical side, and finally entered his truck.
Sophia couldn’t help being pleased, but she simply said, “The bar is open anytime.”
Laughing, he waved goodbye and left, full of liveliness from something no mint-and-lemonade could offer.
CHAPTER 8
________________________________________________________ † ________________________________________________________
the truth unearthed
“Another sister of mine is coming,” Elizabeth told Philippe early on Saturday morning. “Francheska… she’s coming.”
The news sounded like a lighting about to strike in Philippe’s ears. “Francheska?” He jumped out from the bed and rounded Elizabeth unmistakably, who had just smoothed his tuxedo for work. Then, disconnected memories came rushing back to both of them.
Their minds flashed back to the past, to the last few days when they had seen Francheska and Benjamin, the latter as Philippe’s long-time missing brother. Though the memories were from seventeen to eighteen years ago, they remained, undying, in the minds of everyone involved.
“Phil…” Elizabeth’s face flashed hot and cold. She seemed perturbed. “Before we left Forest Green, I… I saw a birthday card in Sophia’s bed room.”
“And…?”
“I read the card, and I’m very sure that the it was from…” Elizabeth paused and looked Philippe in the eye, assessing if he was ready for a blow.
“From who?” Philippe glared at her, too, looking very serious and nervous at the same time.
“I’m very sure that it was from… Benjamin.”
A bomb inside him exploding, Philippe could hardly believe it! Learning that his missing brother had been actually in Forest Green for Sophia, Philippe almost lost control of himself. Questions whirled bountifully around his head.
“What? Are you sure?” He clutched Elizabeth’s shoulders very tightly as he drilled his eyes to hers. “Are you really, really sure about it?”
“Yes, Phil.” Elizabeth slid her gaze down, torn at the thought that she was happy for her husband but hurting for her youngest sister. Francheska was the victim here. And Benjamin… he was the suspect that ran away.
“I wasn’t able to confront Mom Lucy about it because we were too busy trying to bring back Sophia, here.” Elizabeth was freaking. Though it was ages ago, she couldn’t recover from the height of the case her parents had filed against Benjamin, for allegedly sexually assaulting her sister, the night after she and Philippe got married in Forest Green.
Ensconced up in those memories, Elizabeth was, all of a sudden, full of regrets. If she hadn’t let her sister attend the post-party with Ben at the lake house in the Bo Lake, Francheska could have been just fine. Benjamin, too. And everyone could have been living happily, ever after.
(Elizabeth knew then that both were truly teenagers—Francheska was fifteen and Ben was eighteen, so mixed up with emotions and misdirected with desires, but Elizabeth, at that time, was much too focused on her pregnancy with Alex and her honeymoon with Philippe.)
“Eliz…” Philippe, who now seemed to be looking for solutions, spoke again. Only now, he was looking down. “What happens now if Francheska is coming? What about Sophia? You know your sister is disgusted with her.” Unmistakably, he was terrified, too.
The question dragged Elizabeth to the breaking point. “I don’t know,” she said, an uncommon response for a smart woman like her. “We’ll know the things to do. As of the moment, let’s just be happy that my sister is coming back, okay?”
Sophia gazed through the windows just after she finished doing her homework and saw an old man in front of their house, carrying a load of boxes in and out of his truck. He was Mr. Salvador, who was then full of activity at restoring his own house.
Unlike the Vabueritti’s renovated Hispanic mansion, Mr. Salvador’s was very American. Even his backyard told so because of its open lawn and non-existence of a giant golden gate—something far too convivial, compared to the other houses in the block. Philipdomia’s history was reflected well in the Olympus Heights neighborhood, on how the various colonial invaders had caused significant impacts on the country.
Watching him, Sophia wanted to offer some help: wall painting perhaps or anything within her abilities. So she put on her Orlando Polo Club denim shirt over her white sleeveless one and headed downstairs.
On her way out, she was put to a stop when her mother called her from the kitchen. “Sophia, honey, where are you going?” Elizabeth asked carefully and approached her.
“I’m going to help our neighbor, Mom. I think he needs help.” Sophia was careful with her movements, too.
“What neighbor?” Elizabeth examined her daughter for a while and noticed that Sophia was losing some weight. “Have you not been eating well, lately?” She walked closer and weighed Sophia’s arms carefully. “Your arms are getting tinier. Try to eat some more, okay? And get some good sleep,” she reprimanded, wishing she could offer her daughter a tight and lengthy hug.
Sophia also studied her mom. It seemed her mother was the one deprived of food and sleep.
For Elizabeth, a sense of failure had been washing over her ever since she learned of Francheska’s return. Of course, she was beyond ecstatic for her sister, but she was scared to death that she might lose Sophia once her daughter found out about the secrets. It was way more frightening than heading into a black hole.
“And who’s the neighbor you wanted to help again?” Elizabeth asked.
“The old man in front of the house, Mom.”
“Oh, you mean Mr. Salvador?”
“He is Mr. Salvador?”
“Yeah. He’s a retired navy officer but the old man is really down-to-earth.” Elizabeth began to detail and was gratified to see that Sophia seemed animated. “He doesn’t want to be called Captain Salvador, that’s why people here call him Mr. Salvador. But you better check first if he’s in a good mood before approaching him, okay?”
“Is he hot-tempered or something?”
“Not exactly. Just be nice when you talk to him. And say hi for me, then.” Elizabeth added, smiling.
“I will, Mom. Bye.”
To Elizabeth’s disappointment, there was no kiss-in-the-cheek from her daughter or even a brief body-hug. It seemed the silent gap wasn’t over yet.
Sophia was arranging her words as she crossed the street, but Mr. Salvador already saw her and greeted her.
“Hey, Sophia. Is that you?” Mr. Salvador was lively and inviting.
Face aflame, Sophia greeted him back and began to offer her help. “Hello there, Mr. Salvador,” she was waving a hand and giving a sweet smile, “I just finished my homework when I saw you and I thought that I could come and help you…”
“Oh! Thank you, Barbie, but I can do this. You’re not going to make your emaciated arms get bigger, aren’t you?” Mr. Salvador was genuinely concerned when he thought Sophia would only get exhausted, especially when he noticed those small arms and gaunt face. “I mean, these boxes are really heavy,” he added.
The refusal didn’t matter to Sophia. In fact, she insisted. “No, sir. I don’t mind. I’m glad to help.” She appeared as though a hard-headed child before her grandpa.
This then made Mr. Salvador halt and drop the boxes back into his truck, his wrinkles
becoming evident. “By the way,” he said, and between his sighs was the thought of Sophia’s accident. “I heard what happened. How are you now?” Sophia knew at that juncture he was referring to the accident.
“I—I’m fine now, Mr. Salvador.” She managed a polite shrug as her mind got lost and drifted into the sudden thought of Giovanni. Whenever the accident was brought out, she remembered Giovanni. It had always been linked to him. At this, Sophia couldn’t help but feel more emotional… and guilty. “I guess…” she said, and realized for sure she would no longer be fine knowing she used to be false-hearted with Giovanni.
Her sad words and facial expression plunged deep into the old man’s soul. If a thousand battleships in the navy could only mend her, he would go back as captain and order everyone to navigate in one piece.
“Uhm…” Mr. Salvador moaned then, gawking down. “You know, there were days when you’d always greet me every time you pass by my front porch. Lately you’ve been inaudible.”
The revelation brought Sophia to a shock. She didn’t know she’d been quite friendly before her memory loss, especially to this old man. She thought she’d always been quiet and shy. Little did she knew those were the days when she was at the height of her mutiny against her family. At some point, she was the opposite of what she was, right now.
For an instant, Sophia pondered over but was forced to return a response when Mr. Salvador cleared his throat because of a cough.
“I—I guess it’s because of…” Sophia was backsliding to continue. Mr. Salvador seemed more attentive to her than to his cough. “Maybe because of my amnesia, sir.”
The moment she’d finished saying it, Mr. Salvador froze, all of a sudden. “Amnesia?!” Surely he was in a big surprise. “I didn’t know that you have that. I’m sorry!”
Sophia then brightened up her face and set aside the thought. It would only put down the good mood. “It’s okay, Mr. Salvador.” She slid an encouraging look. “And I think I have to go back to the house now. Mom wanted to say hello, by the way.”
Mr. Salvador’s face brightened up, as well. “Oh, in that case, relay my greetings back to your mom.” He winked and loved Sophia even more.
The Forest of Evergreen: Found in the Wilderness Page 5
